Night 56: Entry Room

[thestormishere]

[ From here. ]

Deserted.

Regardless, Lightning took several steps into the large room, looking about and listening intently. Most importantly though, she was also trying to get a feel for the air there. She remembered quite clearly how it had seemed her first and second nights, how someone else going through ahead of her had caused the oppressive

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[sheepwood]

[From here.]

On three, Guybrush pushed the door open, pulling the sword from his sash and stepping into the room with a dramatic flair, ready to strike anything waiting for them on the other side. Switching his flashlight to his hook, he swept the area around them. Nothing to the left, or right, or even as far as the light reached in front of them.

After a moment's pause, Guybrush took a few steps into the room, the beam of his flashlight finally hitting the far wall and the door that awaited them there. "You know," he said, trying to keep the surprise and disappointment from his voice, "with as much trouble as they make it to get anywhere else in this place, I kind of thought the front door would be at least be guarded."

[melodists]

The man perhaps had spoken too soon. Not a beat had passed before a figure emerged from the shadows, her strides slow and distinct enough to offer sufficient warning to the occupants. Death was not Tear's goal for the night; the risk of it had already exceeded expectations the moment the miasma seeped into the grounds. Killing to protect patients from a certain end was a counterproductive measure. No order could express the need as eloquently as her own logic

[fangirlfatale]

"Three!" Morgan burst into the room a step behind Guybrush with the Blade of Still-in-Need-of-a-Name at the ready. At first his light didn't turn up anything, but while Guybrush was complaining about the lack of guards, Morgan was sizing up the figure that had just stepped out of the shadows. A woman--actually, more like a kid, with an overdecorated stick as a weapon and her hair in her face. Slicing and dicing teenagers' innards was not the kind of work Morgan enjoyed, but if this girl thought she was gonna stand in their way, the pirate hunter had no problem with teaching her a pointed lesson or two

[sheepwood]

Guybrush raised his sword and an eyebrow as they were approached, looking the woman over. Okay, so he missed a spot in the room; his powers of observation weren't as sharp as they used to be. Probably all the routine days of relaxation and rehabilitation, and the time spent running to various rooms and away from monsters at night. She had guts to approach two people armed with swords with only a stick, but he had the feeling she probably didn't have a choice in the matter: she wasn't a nurse or a soldier, so that left her being either one of Landel's monsters or a brainwashed patient. The latter seemed like the best bet

[melodists]

Two braggarts with swords proved enough to add irritation to determination, but Tear was not about to overlook their words. She may as well be facing two veteran warriors who could throw their weight around in battle. If the situation was not what it was, the Melodist might have offered a compromise; they seemed entirely intent on going somewhere, after all. That, however, was risking their lives as well as the lives of others. Did they really want to do something so utterly foolish?

"You realize that going outside will be placing everyone here in danger?" she returned. The grip on the staff tightened. "Wait for the miasma to subside. Until then, I cannot allow you to pass under any circumstances. This is your final warning." Their intentions were grossly overshadowed by the scenario. If the pair wanted to force themselves through and risk the entire patient populace, Tear would do everything to stop them.

[fangirlfatale]

Morgan almost pointed out that at least she'd tried to get his sliced-off extremity back, but now wasn't the time. "What?" she demanded. Miasma? Placing everyone here in danger? Yeah, okay. There was a slim chance this girl knew something they didn't, but if Morgan's money hadn't been stolen by a loony kidnapper masquerading as a mental health professional, it would have been on "whackjob." The air out there was fine.

"I don't know what this 'miasma'"--cue the air quotes with her non-sword hand--"stuff is, but I do know that you're still standing between us and the door. And that makes getting you out of my way just one more thing on my to-do list. En garde!With that, Morgan slashed her sword out in what was intended to be a sharp downward arc just a hair to the girl's right. Since she wasn't going for the kill here, the move was mostly designed to get their opponent to start moving (not to mention that the best defense was a good offense). Clearing the path would keep their options open. Morgan might not have superhuman voodoo

[sheepwood]

Placing everyone in danger? Miasma? Guybrush shot a sideways glance at Morgan, and could tell she was having similar thoughts. It didn't sound good, especially if the miasma was anything like a pox. He could see it now: the Pox of Landel, a scourge that only affected kidnapped patients trapped in a spooky asylum

[melodists]

Fine. Leave Tear no choice, and she would respond in kind. The woman moved to engage her, arced her sword to move her, as if to push the soldier away from her position. She did not budge, instead brought the staff diagonally with the intention to guard. Sword clashed against staff, with the latter's owner rooted to the ground. If they had expected her to crumble, they were in for a bit of a shock.

She was, after all, the product of Major Legretta's training.

A pattern of light appeared beneath The Melodist and her assailant as focus coalesced to a fine point. Another set of movements from the man barely fazed her; the action Tear was about to undertake would be more than enough to throw off both bodies. She spoke, words flowing quickly and evenly: "O divine spear, run my enemy through." The light blinked out, and without warning, Tear somersaulted to the side, staff raised high. "Holy Lance.Six spears made of pure white light hovered above the pair, their points aimed at the female. There was little warning before they flew toward

[fangirlfatale]

Their weapons clashed with a loud noise. The girl didn't give. Out of the corner of her eye Morgan noticed a blond ponytail retreating toward the door, and the sight left her seriously unimpressed. "Guybrush Threepwood! Where do you think you're--" and that was as far as she got before she was surrounded by light.

She didn't stop to look up; her instinctive sense of Oh man, that can't be good sent her into a midair somersault without her even having to think about it. She'd flipped fast enough to avoid getting caught right in the middle of them, but not fast enough to get out unscathed; the blows caught her in the back and seared painfully into her flesh.

She managed to stick the landing, but as she whipped around to see how badly she'd been stabbed (what? Not at all?), she realized her bandaged thigh was bleeding again. Not good. Seeping stab wounds kind of made the acrobatics a little more difficult, plus her back stung like heck. Pathetic, Morgan!Now she was faced with a tough problem: she was hurt, Guybrush was probably about to

[sheepwood]

Annnnd there was the chastising Guybrush expected when caught doing something others felt was cowardly, irresponsible, legally reprehensible, or some combination thereof. He turned back with a sheepish grin. "I was just going to make sure the door was unlocked for our swift and daring- "

His excuse was cut off as their attacker, who had been chattering to herself only a second before, called out the final words of what was presumably some sort of voodoo incantation, conjuring spears of light and sending them after her target. Though Morgan nailed her usual graceful landing, it didn't seem she'd made it out unscathed. "Morgan! You're okay, right?"

The guard turned to him, her eyes sharply meeting his own; Guybrush froze as she called for her next attack without the dramatic chanting buildup: "Pow Hammer!"Pow hammer? What's a pow

[melodists]

Their brief back-and-forth spoke of languishing teamwork, and if Tear had any particular say in the matter, she might have critiqued them on the very fact. As the singular guard to this post, however, she instead took it as a detail to exploit. With enough well-aimed beatings movements, the Melodist should force the duo to retreat. That was the plan, at least. The execution still required timing.

The Pow Hammer connected with the man's skull. Leaving him to disorientation, Tear shifted to the woman, her free hand sliding down her side. Unfortunately, her attention moved a split second too late, and the other's sword cut across her calf, tearing through material to touch skin. Blood trailed and a hollow pain registered in the younger's mind, but ultimately, the fact was ignored. Her hand had already found the knives strapped against her garter, and as the opponent landed, two of the weapons were already flying in the woman's direction.

Once again, focus turned, and the incantation rose: "O healing power... First Aid!" A green light

[fangirlfatale]

"Hah!" Morgan crowed as she felt her blade connect with flesh. But as it pulled away bloody, she felt pain well up just below the back of her right shoulder and groped backwards to find two small knives dug into her own skin. Definitely not good! Of course they would just miss her pauldron, too. You were supposed to leave things like that in to minimize blood loss, Morgan was pretty sure, but trying to move her sword arm with two sharp objects right next to it was just going to do more damage. She jerked them out and threw them to the far wall as she moved quickly away to reassess

[sheepwood]

[Sorry about the wait!]As Morgan and the guard exchanged blows, Guybrush swatted at the birdies whirling around his head, trying to get a view of the fight. "Shoo! Go away!" Even worse than the room spinning was the part where he was imagining things: one second, he was sure that Morgan had landed a blow; the next, there was a light and the guard was completely uninjured. Bracing his head between his flashlight and hook, he gave up on his batting attempts and waited for the birds to disappear. There were still a few fluttering weakly in front of his eyes as his hand was grabbed- thankfully, it was Morgan pulling him toward the door and not their attacker preparing to fling him into the wall

[melodists]

First Aid had done its work, but her opponents were more determined than ever as demonstrated by their individual choices. And Tear was not about to offer them success. Exactly what was so important in the outside world to fight against an Oracle Knight? What was so critical they had to risk other lives? Her staff rotated as the same circular pattern appeared, focus narrowing for one more attempt.

There existed limits to fighting two at once, particularly two with swords. Fortunately, she held a particular hymn that might slow both down, assuming that there was a need. A part of her still couldn't follow through. At the end of the day, these people were patients, languishing minds requiring treatment.

Therefore, when the man spoke, she did not brush him aside immediately. The light patterns subsided, and Tear frowned, expression heavy. "Don't be a fool," she threw back. Her attention fixed on him; the other was set to the background at least for the moment. "You may not come back if you go out there!"

[fangirlfatale]

Morgan felt a twinge in her chest as Guybrush faced down the guard at her back, but she didn't have time to indulge it. The door really was locked (with Guybrush doing the checking, a double-check couldn't hurt), so she immediately got to work hammering the lock with several sharp kicks. A flicker of light made her glance back once before she quickly turned back to her work. Luckily, Guybrush was keeping the brat talking.

And one thing she said was interesting. You may not come back. "Seriously?" Morgan turned around again just long enough to stare at the girl with an expression halfway between a gape and a grin. "That's the best news I've heard since I got here." Energized by the thought, she landed one last vicious kick on the lock and broke it. The strain of bearing all her weight on the injured leg sent her stumbling forward into the door, but the door swung open, and Morgan barreled through into the night air.

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